Law enforcement

Smirking Cuba Gooding Jr. Led Out in Handcuffs After Being Charged in NYC Rooftop Bar Groping Case

Gooding's attorney said the actor is facing one charge of forcible touching, a misdemeanor, after allegedly grabbing a woman's breasts at a midtown bar

What to Know

  • Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. was charged Thursday for allegedly groping a woman at a rooftop bar in Manhattan over the weekend
  • The actor is facing one charge of forcible touching, a misdemeanor, after allegedly grabbing a woman's breasts at a midtown bar
  • Two women have now accused Gooding of groping them at Manhattan clubs; one of the complaints is more than a decade old

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. was charged Thursday for allegedly groping a woman at a rooftop bar in Manhattan over the weekend.

Gooding's attorney said the actor is facing one charge of forcible touching, a misdemeanor, and was fingerprinted and photographed after arriving at the Special Victims Unit in Manhattan to discuss the woman's complaint with authorities.

Gooding smirked and nodded at the cameras while being led out of the SVU station after being charged, his hands cuffed behind him. Gooding was arraigned Thursday night and pleaded not guilty before being released without bail.

Wearing a black suit and tie, the Hollywood star stepped out of the passenger seat of a black sedan outside the precinct early Thursday afternoon and smiled and waved to a media throng as he headed inside. He didn't answer questions.

As Gooding met with police over the alleged incident at the midtown bar, cops said a second woman had alleged similar behavior more than a decade ago at a different club in the city.

Previously, Gooding told TMZ he was at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge partying with friends but didn't touch anyone. He said there's a video that shows "what really happened," adding, "I trust the system and will let the process speak for itself." 

Gooding is accused of grabbing a woman's breasts at the rooftop bar on Seventh Avenue. 

His attorney, Mark Heller, said he was hesitant to let Gooding surrender after "extensively" reviewing hours of late-Sunday surveillance video and finding "no criminality on tape." But he decided to go through with it. He said he was surprised police and prosecutors were moving forward with the case.

“He’s 51 with no criminal history. I’m not going to have him in a holding cell just to be declined," Heller said. "We're prepared to do the right thing." 

The second woman filed the complaint June 10 in connection with an alleged butt grab at a club on West 45th Street shortly after midnight on March 1, 2008. It's not clear why the woman filed the report more than a decade later. Gooding's attorneys also disputed the second groping allegation. 

"There is no pattern of conduct," Heller said. "It is not uncommon for people to come out of the woodwork when these things happen."

The Manhattan district attorney's office declined comment. 

Gooding is due back in court on June 26.

Copyright The Associated Press
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